Southend: Dispersal order to tackle anti-social behaviour

UPDATED: Wednesday 16 April at 12pm

Officers are continuing to progress an investigation into an incident of disorder in Southend and a dispersal order remains in place.

We are aware of footage showing a fight between a group in Queens Road, Southend, which took place at around 5.30pm on Tuesday 15 April.

The fight was over in seconds and the group quickly dispersed.

Officers received several calls from helpful members of the public and were on the scene within one minute.

No injuries were suffered and those involved in the fight did not use knives, although a knife was found discarded at the scene and this was seized for forensic examination.

Officers are progressing an investigation and working to identify and apprehend all those involved.

It is believed those involved are known to each other and the incident was targeted.

As part of our response, you’ll continue to see officers on patrol across Southend to protect the public and prevent further incidents.

A dispersal order, under Section 35 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, remains in place until 7pm tonight (Wednesday 16 April).

It gives officers the power to direct people to leave a specific area if there are reasonable grounds to believe their behaviour is likely to contribute to crime or disorder.

'We're looking to identify all involved'

Chief Inspector David Browning, Southend district commander, said:

“Sadly incidents such as this, which involve disputes between criminal elements who are likely known to each other, are not exclusive to areas like Southend and it’s a problem that is addressed by police forces across the UK.
“My priority is making sure our response to incidents like this is robust, quick and focused on protecting the law-abiding public.
“I do understand this incident is concerning and we’re working to identify everyone intent on causing issues in our city.
“I’m also ensuring my teams are out and about across the district today and into tonight as we continue these inquiries.
“We’re aware as the weather gets warmer and as Southend gets busier, the need for a continuing policing presence becomes ever more apparent.
“We’ve bolstered our neighbourhood policing resources, including our town team, to make them stronger than ever.
“We have plans, such as our summer Operation Union, which last year saw officers on patrol make dozens of arrests and conduct hundreds of stop searches.
“This is coupled with our wider ongoing work led by our Serious Violence Unit to disrupt the gang activity behind drug and knife crime.
“We hear and understand people’s desire for us to stamp out knife crime and disorder in its entirety. Our work is having an impact.”

Our latest figures for the year to date show a decrease of 17% in the number of possession of weapon offences in Southend – 42 less than the previous year.

Dispersal order in place

Tuesday 15 April

A dispersal order has been put in place covering parts of Southend this evening following a disturbance.

Officers were on the scene within one minute of reports of a group involved in a fight in Queens Road, Southend, at around 5.30pm on Tuesday 15 April.

Thankfully no injuries were suffered and we recovered a bladed weapon.

Our inquiries are ongoing.

As part of our response, you’ll see officers on patrol across Southend tonight to protect the public and prevent further incidents.

A dispersal order, under Section 35 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, has been authorised as part of this response.

This order will remain in place for 24 hours, until 7pm on Wednesday 16 April.

It gives officers the power to direct people to leave a specific area if there are reasonable grounds to believe their behaviour is likely to contribute to crime or disorder.

The order covers Southend High Street and surrounding areas as defined within the accompanying map.

Inspector Steven Baker said:

“We’ve been hugely helped by the public following this earlier disorder, which we believe took place between individuals who are known to each other.
“I would reassure the people of Southend that we simply will not tolerate incidents of this nature.
“This order will have no impact on the vast majority of good, law-abiding people we want to protect in Southend.
“It will however help us as we look to prevent any further incidents and apprehend those responsible.”

Anyone with information should contact us as soon as possible.

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